A New Axe
by H80NP
Summary: [Three-parter Wendip story] It has been two years since Dipper has seen anyone in Gravity Falls. But once the nineteen-year-old is not as busy, he plans to see a certain someone in Oregon after two long years of being separate... How will his surprise visit go?
1. Chapter 1

**A New Axe**

 _FRIDAY, FEBTUARY 13_ _TH_ _, 2019:_

"Oh, are you kidding me?!" The frustrated teenager whispered as he took a look at his watch after what felt like an hour. To his displeasure, no more than exactly six minutes and eighteen seconds had passed. Frowning, he recalculated the amount of time until the end of his last lecture of the day for the thirty fifth time, only to realize that he still had forty two minutes and twenty three seconds of Greek Mythology to look forward to.

Dipper scoffed. _As if._ The younger Pines twin, unlike his usual self, was not even remotely enjoying the class, which he had zero idea why he needed to learn. In fact, had it been up to him, he would have never even taken the class, let alone waste six hours a week on all the nonsense. Six hours of his precious life.

Unfortunately for the teen, it had _not_ been up to him.

One day, during their first days in college, Dipper and his twin sister had made a bet, the forfeit being about classes the two were going to take. If Mabel lost, she'd have to take the advanced calculus classes. And if Dipper lost…

It would come as no surprise that the boy was mad about having to learn about gods and their histories – which, in more than little cases, made contradictions – just because of a lost bet. He then wondered how his great uncle could become such a gambler. It seemed the teen never had any luck when it came to chances – the same chances he was extremely good at calculating.

But he frowned as his thoughts went back to the same subject of Greek mythology. He didn't understand why it would come in handy for someone, especially someone like him. Hell, what on earth did Odin and Zeus have to do with his major – medical studies?

Wait. Was Odin in the Greek mythology at all? Or was he Scandinavian? Or Roman?

He put his thoughts aside when he realized he needed to take a few notes about Faunus, the god of animals, forests or plains. Not that he wanted to, he just needed those notes to pass. So he grabbed his blue pen – which also happened to be painfully chewed up – and began to write absent-mindedly.

Dipper had planned this particular weekend out since two weeks ago, when his sister had been talking – more like gushing – about her plans for the Valentine's day and how she was going to find a date by the twelfth – which, of course, she still hadn't. But the bubbly teen's plans also inspired an idea for Dipper.

The two hadn't visited Gravity Falls for the last new year's, which had gradually become a routine since the first Christmas after their first summer in the sleepy town. Dipper, in particular, had also stayed in California during the last summer as well, while his twin spent her time with people he greatly wished to see. It was just that his college projects, studies and articles took major priority – in his opinion, at least.

That summer spent entirely on preparing for college had led to his sight worsening, so much that he got a pair of glasses, which Mabel always complimented. (Although it _did_ give her a reason to call him a nerd more frequently, and she took the most advantage from it.) All in all, the male pines twin hadn't seen so many precious people for longer than a year…

 _Including Wendy._

That – alongsides with the fact that things weren't as awkward between them anymore - was why when Dipper found out that the Valentine's day was a Saturday, he instantly planned on giving his girlfriend a surprise visit the night before the fourteenth. If all went according to his plan, he would finish packing as soon as he would get to his humble apartment after his last class on Friday… which was Greek Mythology.

He looked at his watch again.

Still Thirty four minutes left.

He sighed heavily and focused his attention on the old professor in front of the class, who happened to be talking about Venus, the goddess of beauty and love.

Beauty and love…

His thoughts instantly slipped away from the class, and to a certain redhead, who was probably cutting down trees a few thousand miles up north. His lips began to form a smile. A smile at all the sweet memories, at all the adventures he had gone through with her, all the camping nights when the two shared tents, all the movie nights spent at Wendy's small bedroom, all the snowball fights they had in the new years and all the fond memories he could remember spent with _her…_

And last but not least, the last goodbye moment at the end of their last summer together…

The voice of the Mythology professor snapped the teen out of his thoughts and into the classroom. He adjusted his glasses and looked at the board, which had been filled completely. He needed to take notes.

But as soon as he picked up his pen, the professor began to wipe the board. Dipper frowned and let out a frustrated groan. Now he needed to borrow Mabel's notes for the final exam, and that was the last thing he would have _ever_ wanted to do. He held the bridge of his nose and began to unwillingly listen to what the professor had to say.

Of course, none of his actions escaped from his neighbor and twin sister, Mabel Pines.

* * *

"What was wrong back there, bro-bro?" Mabel asked her brother cheerily little after they were dismissed. "Bored of mythology again, eh?" She added playingly.

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Of course I am! It's nothing that I'd wanna be forced to learn! None of it is even real!" He whined, and rightfully so. All the bubbly twin did was giggle.

"Well, it's not my fault! Don't take a bet if you don't wanna lose!" She gave Dipper an affectionate punch in the shoulder. "besides, isn't it better than learning all that sciency junk all the time? You _could_ use a change!"

"I _was_ going for a change." The now taller twin said, adjusting his glasses.

"Oh, _really?"_ She said with more than a little sarcasm. She had a pretty clear idea what her twin meant by a change. "What kind of change? Physics? Calculus? Advanced Chemistry? Nuclear science? Some other sciency-math bizz?" And she raised an eyebrow.

Of course, Dipper had seen this response coming, which got a chuckle out of him.

"What? Which subjects did I miss?"

"It's not that…" The teen stopped laughing. "I wasn't going for another class to take, I was just gonna… Remember Bart from the eighth grade?"

"Barty?" The cheery twin began to think, remembering their chubby and bookish classmate from five years ago. "Oh, yeah! The guy who was good with wood and all that junk, right?"

Dipper nodded. "I saw him sometime ago…"

"NO WAY!" His twin squealed, tugging Dipper's noodle arms with excitement. "Why didn't you tell me? How's he doing? He lives in L.A. now, right? I heard he has his own woodshop now!" She then gasped. "OH! Maybe we can visit him sometime? We're both free next weekend! Oooh, I _really_ wanna see an actual woodshop! Has he gotten marrie-"

"Mabel, please." Dipper stopped her at the last question, and Mabel unintentionally made a duck-face.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, bro."

"It's alright." He reassured her before going back to the subject. "So, we were talking, and he said that he _does_ have his own woodshop now, so I thought that maybe I could learn the basics of working with wood and-"

"REALLY?" The bubbly teen gawked at him, eyes sparkling. Dipper uncomfortably nodded.

"OOH! THAT'S AWESOME BRO!" She squeaked and enthusiastically took her brother into an emvrace, while he felt a few of his bones starting to crack. "Ma…bel, I…'m… suffo…cati..iiing…"

"Whoops! Sorry!" The tight hugger let go, letting her victim of a brother gasp for air. He would have laughed her brother off, were it not for more than few people looking at the two, thinking God knew what – the fact that one of them was typing something hurriedly while looking at the two was not helping either.

Once Dipper had recovered, the two left the hallway to the parking, with Mabel starting back on the subject.

"But seriously, how'd you think of that, Dip? Working with wood?" She said, wearing her smile again, as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, well-"

"OOH! Think you can make me a new little desk in the summer? The table I have right now is just outright gross!"

"That's because you never clean the food stains." Dipper pointed out, remembering having to study in his sister's house – his books had smelled like omelets ever since.

"Aw, c'mon! I always clean them, it's just those little stainies that refuse to get cleaned."

"Well, who eats food on their desk anyway? Don't you have a kitchen table?" he protested. Knowing Mabel, he also knew some of her unusual habits that always annoyed him. "It's not my fault that your desk smells like month-old spaghetti."

" _Oh, look. I'm Dipper, and I refuse to screw three boards together to make my sister a table, 'cause I have nerdy junk to do and Back To The Future to rewatch."_ Mabel deepened her voice to imitate her brother, getting a chuckle _and_ a roll of his eyes out of Dipper.

"Mabel, please…"

"How hard is it? Barty should have taught you how to cut wood, right?" She returned to her normal voice. "OOH! You can also make me a couple of photo frames, right? Y'know, those _gorgeous_ woods? Like the purple ones? Think-"

"Mabel, I never _did_ learn anything! I don't have time for it because of your bet." He cut his sister, almost yelling – getting Mabel to listen while she was speaking was never an easy job. Mabel went silent, then cheered right back up. "But still, you _can_ go to his place in the summer, right? Think he could teach me too? That would be _awesome_!"

"Yeah, it would." Dipper nodded, thinking of the possibility, but then remembered of all he had to do and looked at his watch. "Crap! It's Four-thirty already! I have a lot to do."

"Four… Thirty?" Mabel said, looking at her brother's watch. "Oh no! I have a lot to take care of too! Seeya later, Dip!" She said and ran to where she had parked her old, bright red hatchback. The two waved at each other before Mabel got inside her car, and then Dipper opened the door of his dull and also old sedan. If he made it home in time, he would not get behind his schedule for a pretty long road trip.

* * *

Dipper Pines was a light traveler. All that he had packed was a warm jacket - because he knew that Oregon was nothing like California when it came to weather – his laptop, some of his notes to review, which, of course didn't include the mythology ones, and a box of dark chocolate that he was putting inside his small backpack at that moment.

"Ah, come on…" He muttered, struggling to fit the box inside – the jacket had taken up more space than he had anticipated. He almost considered not taking the chocolates with him, but he couldn't let his surprise visit have any imperfections. He couldn't just stand on her door and go ' _did you miss meee?'_ and expect Wendy to be glad to see him. That would be all of his efforts for nothing…

He shook his head as soon as he realized he was overthinking again. _No. Anxiety won't get you anywhere. Now get yourself together and finish packing before it's too late._ He thought and adjusted his glasses which had slightly come off, then began to try again to fit the box in.

Then it hit him; why carry the jacket in the backpack, anyway? He could just as easily put it on the backseat and wear it in a stop. Having the jacket inside the backpack would only cause more hassles.

So, he got the jacket out of the backpack and put the chocolates inside effortlessly, smiled and checked to see if he'd packed everything he needed. A few packs of instant coffee on the table beside him seemed to be left behind, but nothing else. He knew that he'd need coffee in the ride to keep himself awake. He placed the packs in the side pocket of the backpack and he was ready to go, so he picked up his jacket and car keys to head downstairs.

After he had carried everything to his car, he went back to his apartment to have one last check on everything.

His small flat was completely clean with nothing out of place. The books were organized and sitting on his bookshelf. None of his clothes were on the floor, and…

There was a hatchet sitting on the couch.

Dipper face palmed at his forgetfulness. "Of course! Wendy's gift!" He said, glad that he had come back to check again. What would he have done if he'd left the axe home?

The nineteen year old looked around again, just to be sure he hadn't left anything behind, but there seemed to be no problem. Everything – from his backpack to his spare glasses – were in his old sedan, and with the hatchet in his hands, he had nothing to worry about. So he shut off all the lights and headed out, remembering to lock the door.

.

"Yeah, sure, Bart." Dipper said behind the steering wheel of his sedan, talking to Bartholomew through speakerphone. He looked at a certain hatchet that was sitting on the right seat, whose handle was carved by Bart. "Thanks again, by the way."

"Anytime!" The craftsman said from the other end of the line. "You were really lucky we had a shipment of redwood coming. How do you like it?"

"It's great! I like how you put her name on it." Dipper said, looking at the letters ' Y' elegantly carved in the redwood handle. His gift looked graceful with the gorgeous wood that Bart had used. The axe looked much better than his expectations.

"Oh, well, I, uh… thought it would make it better, y'know?"

"You weren't wrong." He said, smiling.

"Aye." He said and a nervous chuckle followed. "So, how far are you from Oregon now?"

"I think I'll be there by midnight," The inexperienced driver said. "give or take. I haven't traveled this road by car before, so…"

"Oh, good luck then. Road trips could be tough." Then Dipper heard the sound of someone else calling Bart from behind the phone.

"Oh, something came up?" He asked, somewhat curious.

Bart sighed. "Yeah, It's about closing time for us."

Dipper looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was only eight o' clock.

"What? But it's pretty early!"

"Normal closing time's around nine, but we close earlier on Fridays." Bart explained. "Welp, time I went home. Good luck with the ride, and don't forget to tell me how your Valentine's goes!" The craftsman added and hung up.

Dipper locked his phone and smiled. He turned the radio back on, so that there was music to occupy him during the trip – he didn't want to grow tired. He also had a DVD from Jeff Dunham ready in case he wanted to listen to something other than music as well. He had read that listening to comedians also helped in long rides.

His ride had been good so far. He was ahead of his schedule, everything was in place for his surprise visit, and there was no way he wouldn't be in Gravity Falls by midnight. So he fixed his attention back on the road and kept driving in the darkening night.

Little does she know… Dipper's smile deepened instantly. He just wanted to see the pleasure in her eyes when he arrived. He was excited, passionate and much too impatient. Much too impatient to see a certain redhead again…

* * *

 **Author's Notes: So, here you guys are! The first of three parts of this story!**

 **Just felt the need to mention that this was meant to be a one-shot, but the way I write things, it turned out pretty long to be just one chapter, so I split it in three.**

 **That being said, the next part will be up within 24 hours! Already written and everything. Feel free to tell me how you felt about this part in the reviews!**

 **-H80NP**


	2. Chapter 2

Hundreds of miles up north, Wendy Corduroy was taking a nap after a long day of 'work'. The redhead had no classes on Fridays, which meant she would help Manly Dan with whatever the experienced lumberjack had to take care of. None of the tasks were easy, of course, but easy just wasn't up the alley of the Corduroy Clan. Most of the jobs were taken care of effortlessly – by their standards - especially with two of Wendy's brothers also helping, but that particular day had been an exception.

Just hours ago, Kevin and Chester – Wendy's two oldest brothers – were trying to hunt a deer down, when they encountered the Gremloblin, who ended up chasing after them, as well as Wendy and her father who happened to be nearby – a tragic turn of events. The two Corduroy brothers were seeing their worst nightmares at the moment.

Thankfully, the same couldn't be said about Wendy, who was smiling as she dreamed on her couch, where she had fallen asleep as soon as she had gotten home.

It had been nearly two years since she had moved out, courtesy of a job her father had found her in the summer – which was also better paying than being the cashier at the Mystery Shack. That, as well as the young woman sparing new issues of a number of magazines and saving the money up, helped her eventually get her own house in Gravity Falls.

Moving in had been so much trouble for her, but with help from her father with carrying heavier furniture, Soos with his pickup truck – although he did accidentally break her desk – and Stanford Pines with all the electricity problems the house had to offer, she managed to start off the second year of college without having to worry about anything moving-related.

Of course, a certain pair of twins had also given her a hand or two with all the hassles.

Mabel had cleaned the house from every speck of dust it had been collecting in seven years of being abandoned. She had made a welcomingly clean house out of an old, smelly building which had been sitting untouched on the side of the Gopher Road since the redhead was barely a teen. Dipper… He had made sure the house was not haunted, which Wendy genuinely appreciated, but she couldn't resist the need to poke fun at him for his paranoia every now and then.

The twins had matured an awful lot, especially on Dipper's side of things. He was definitely not the same pre-teen who came to Gravity Falls all those years ago and fell in love with her. He had definitely learnt a lot through the years, become a mature teen, and, in all honesty, actually _attractive_ … attractive enough to make Wendy _fall in love with him…_

It had actually happened during that summer, although the redhead had kept her lips sealed the entire time. She had realized her feelings for the nerdy teen since almost the beginning of the summer, but it wasn't her who confessed first – it came as no surprise that Dipper had not gotten over Wendy at all, either.

That particular summer had ended sooner than usual for the pines twins, as their school year was starting early. Their school had decided that the twelfth graders start school in the middle of August, quite a joykill for the two.

But mere minutes before the bus heading to California had arrived, Dipper had decided to confess his not-so-secret love for the lumberjill for a second time – the first of which having gone horribly wrong.

Wendy couldn't ask for more. She had been holding back for a grand total of two months by then. Now that the nerdy teen had confessed, she didn't need to keep her feelings in anymore, and so the two's first kiss happened that day, with Wendy saying she loved Dipper back…

And they hadn't seen each other ever since.

But still, thanks to the internet and phone calls, they had always kept in touch through the two years of being away. Whether it was a short phone call just to see how the other one was doing, or hour-long video calls in the end of the night, the two had kept their relationship even through the thousand-mile distance between them. They had even gradually picked up the habit of calling each other on Friday evenings every week, so that they could talk for as long as they wanted to and not have to worry about getting up early the day after.

But on that particular Friday evening, Wendy Corduroy was simply napping, having a dream of one of the many adventures she had had with Dipper. The former-preteen had taken her to the cave behind the fall – with Mabel tagging along, of course – on his first summer in Gravity Falls, and the three camped for the night in there, which had made one of the redhead's nicest memories. Wendy was smiling in her sleep at the sweet reliving of that night in her mind. She could almost smell the humidity in her dream, hear the falls going down in front of them, and the calming sound it made for…

 _Knock. Knock_.

A not-so-gentle knock on the door interrupted Wendy's nap.

She moaned sleepily and opened her eyes, only to find herself on the couch, instead of the bed.

"Huh? Where… what…" She scratched her head and thought back. "…oh, I fell aslee-"

 _Knock. Knock._

Wendy groaned and got up to answer the door. Whoever they were, they didn't want to let the lumberjill take a good day's rest.

"You better be someone I'd wanna see right now." She said, just to clarify that she was _not_ in a good mood. However, the person who answered was _definitely_ not someone she was eager to see at that moment.

"It's me, Kevin!" came the voice of her eldest brother.

Wendy groaned again. This was _not_ what she wanted to happen on a Friday… evening? She didn't know what time it was, but she knew that she didn't want Kevin to be the one interrupting her sleep.

She opened the door unwillingly. "What do you want?"

"Hi Wendy! Came here to give you the twenty bucks I owed ya!" Said The younger redhead and handed her twenty dollars.

"Uh…" Wendy's annoyed frown slowly changed into one of confusion. "What'd you owe me that for?" She asked, which surprised Kevin.

"Oh, c'mon! We made a bet today, remember?" He said, only to get another questioning look from Wendy, who didn't remember a thing.

"Those footprints! You said they were some monster's, but I argued and made a bet…"

"Oh yeah, I remember." She said, remembering everything that had happened. "So, you and Chester are doing fine now?" Wendy added, with little to no concern.

"Yeah…" He said and shuddered, remembering seeing his worst nightmare. "But it was messed up, man."

"Bet it was." The lumberjill rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but at least we woke up to the smell of fresh bacon." Kevin explained, and got another eye roll out of Wendy. In the Corduroy clan, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Her brothers woke up to the smell of food as kids all the time, and apparently they still hadn't grown out of doing so.

"Man, that still works on you two, huh?" She said bitterly and her brother chuckled.

"You woke me up. I hope you know that."

"Wait, I did?"

Wendy nodded.

"Oh, sorry…"

"Whatever." She said dryly and closed the door.

Wendy sighed and sat down on her couch, rubbing her temples. She was definitely not feeling fine after all the work she'd put up with and how she didn't get to sleep either. She had a slight headache and was just exhausted, but it didn't seem like she could get any sleep, anyway.

She sighed and checked her phone for the time. It was nine O' clock and she was starving.

"Better cook something up for dinner." The redhead got up and went to the kitchen. Maybe she could just fry some beef, it wouldn't be a bad way to kick off a Friday evening.

 _Friday evening…_

"Holy crap! I haven't called Dipper today!" She forgot all about cooking and left the kitchen to do what had gradually become a routine for her – and Dipper's – Friday evenings. The two gave each other a video call once a week, on the last night before the weekend.

The redhead found her laptop and hurriedly opened it. She impatiently waited for the computer to load up, then she opened Skype and clicked on the first contact in her favorites list and waited for Dipper to answer.

"Oh, come ON, just pick up…" The lumberjill said while impatiently rocking back and forth. She was worried that Dipper had slept already – being sleep deprived, the teen slept early when he could.

It wasn't long until someone from the other end picked up.

"Oh, hi, Wen-wen! Long time no see, huh?" A bubbly voice chirped from the other end, which sounded nothing like Dipper, and a nineteen year old girl was on her screen… who looked just like Dipper.

"Oh, uh…" Wendy was taken aback from her boyfriend's sister picking up instead of himself. "…hi, Mabel…"

"How're you doing there?" Mabel said with her signature toothy smile. She then raised an eyebrow, "And why's your hair all messy?"

"What? My… hair?" Wendy touched her head and noticed how her hair was a mess. Her own picture to the corner of the screen showed so, too. "oh, I was just asleep."

"OH! Taking a nap after work, eh?" The bubbly teen said and chuckled. "Soooo, you haven't called me in awhile, what happened?"

"Called you?" Wendy said, quite puzzled.

"Then who? I'm right here Wendy!" She pointed at herself cheerily.

"But I just called Dipper…" She said and looked at the contact name below Mabel's picture. Just as she thought. She had actually called Mabel instead of Dipper. "Oh, right. I made a mistake."

"Oh, so you wanted to have a little chit-chat with my bro just the night before Valentine's, eh?" Mabel playfully said and giggled. "y'know, get lovey-dovey?"

Wendy slightly blushed. "No! We just call each other every wee- wait a minute… tomorrow's Valentine's day?"

"Well yeah!" Mabel nodded. "I've been trying to find myself a good ol' date for sooo long, but all I got was just… uurrghh!"

Wendy chuckled at her friend's bad luck with the opposite sex – nothing new. "Better luck next time."

Mabel sighed. "I hope so." And she cheered right back up. "Anyway, what's been up with you?"

"Hard day at work." She lowered her eyelids and went back to 'laid back mode'.

"Oooh! What'd you do this time?" She said but at that very moment a phone's ringtone going off could be heard – Mabel's.

"Oh, darn it, my project buddy's calling me! I gotta go!"

"s' Alright. See ya this summer." She said and waved at her.

"Seeya!" She cheerily bid the redhead and ended the call.

Wasting no time, Wendy opened her favorites list again and made sure to click on Dipper's name this time. She then waited again for her boyfriend to pick up.

She smiled, thinking about telling him all about their encounter with the Gremloblin earlier, ask him how he'd been doing this week and have a nice conversation…

But he wouldn't answer.

She ended the unanswered call and then saw that Dipper wasn't even online. That meant their video call had to wait for another week. Great.

"You dork." Said Wendy as she turned her laptop off and went to the kitchen. "You didn't answer last week's call either…"

* * *

Welcome to Oregon.

The exhausted driver sighed in relief as he read the sign in front of his car. It had been two years since he had seen that particular set of words, which never failed to relieve him, as it served as a sign that they were close to their destination.

He looked at the clock as he drove past the sign. It was twelve thirty in the midnight, and he, as estimated, had around two hours of driving ahead of him. The road trip hadn't gone as he had anticipated – if his assumptions had been correct, he should have been in Gravity Falls by then.

He yawned and looked back to the long and lonesome road, lit only by his car's headlights. He was bored with the ride and needed something to keep him going for two more hours. The fact that his car's tank was almost empty wasn't helping, either. He needed to find a gas station, and fast.

Just his luck, the nineteen year old saw a light on the side of the road. He checked his GPS and found that he was indeed drawing nearer to a gas station.

"Oh, thank God." He muttered and slowly reduced his speed to pull in to the station. Maybe he could have some coffee as well…

* * *

"There it is, the Gopher Road." Dipper Pines said and slowly took a turn leading to where the Mystery Shack, The Gleeful's old warehouse, and last but not least, a certain someone's house were. He just needed to find the building 819, and he was settled.

He was barely keeping his eyes open as he drove just next to the Gravity Falls Forest at 3 in the morning. He hadn't even taken a short break. But he was so close to his destination that resting seemed pointless, and although he had a pair of large bags beneath his eyes at that moment, he forced himself to go through the rest of the way as well.

 _412_ , he read the number of a building and quickly moved on. He didn't have much time to waste, and as far as his tired eyes could see, there were no buildings anywhere in sight. So he fixed his glasses and drove on.

He then looked at his right seat and at a certain hatchet, which was resting on the right seat, nice and clean. The sharp edge of the axe reflected the moonlight, which had lit up the inside of the car gloriously. The letters of Wendy's name carved into the handle were merely adding to the beauty of the sight.

Soon, that axe would be in Wendy's hands, and she would be swinging it like the amazingly skilled lumberjill she was, and hopefully using it whenever she needed a handy axe from then on…

Passing by the evergreen trees, his mind raced to what awaited him just few miles ahead, and how badly he wished to be there at that moment…

Wendy's couch.

What he had already thought of doing was not going to work, as it was too late and he was painfully sleep-deprived. Wendy was most likely asleep at that moment as well, he couldn't ring her door and surprise her. He _could_ surprise her in one way, though.

He was going to crash Wendy's house from a certain window, which led straight to the living room – he knew Wendy's house pretty well, since he'd helped in with the moving process – and sleep in her couch, set an alarm for himself on his vibrating watch at seven o' clock in the morning and wake up much earlier than his redheaded girlfriend. When Wendy woke up he would surprise her in the living room.

And, of course, if Wendy woke up sooner than him, it would probably not go well, but it was a chance that he needed to take.

But at that moment all he needed to do was to look out for the lumberjill's house and make sure he wouldn't pass it – he didn't want himself wandering around for another hour.

It wasn't long before the teenager came across another building. He tried to check the number, but as soon as he took a glimpse of the building, he knew where it was; The Mystery Shack. He couldn't see the building and not recognize it.

There was a dim light peeking through one of the windows. _Which window?_ He wondered and looked closer to the building. He couldn't figure out where inside the shack the light was coming from, but knowing Stan, it was probably from the TV room, where the old businessman had fallen asleep in front of the TV screen.

As he drove on the shack started to go out of sight behind him, and he fixed his eyes on the road again. Knowing how close Wendy's house was to the shack, he couldn't be that far away.

 _Unless he'd come the wrong way and passed it…_

"Not the time, Dipper." He said to himself, trying to push away the anxiety. "You would have known if you'd passed it."

 _But what if he hadn't seen it? or mistaken it for another building?_

Dipper groaned. Not this time. He didn't want another argument with his inner voice. Not in the middle of the night, when he was looking for Wend-

He was there.

A familiar looking building was right in front of the teenager, and he had nearly passed it. Even though all that he could see from the house was a black shadow between more shadows of bushes and mushrooms which surrounded the house, he somehow knew that his crush was sleeping there right then. He _felt_ it.

Dipper slowed down the car and took a 180 degrees turn to park in front of the house. He then put his warm jacket on, came out of the car. But the instance that he closed the door of his sedan, he started to freeze.

 _Oh boy_. He thought to himself and zipped up his jacket tight. He shouldn't have had the heater of his car going on full force. His teeth were clicking against each other loudly and his hands had gone bright red – not that he could see it in the dark, but he knew the feeling – and his face was almost numb. But even though it took him a few minutes, He eventually adjusted to the cold and returned to normal.

He looked at the sky, which was starting to become cloudier, but he could still see the moon in the center of the sky. The full moon that shone bright on him and warmed his heart in an otherwise cold night. Dipper felt like the moon was giving him courage to go in and meet his significant other after two years. All of his doubt was being brushed aside, and he was being cleaned of any second thoughts. He felt readier than ever to go in to the lumberjill's house and do what he had been planning to do for almost a month.

 _Time to break in…_

In front of the tired teenager was the front door, as well as two windows. These windows didn't open, they were there for the sake of enough sunlight coming into the house. The window he was going to get in through was to the side of the building.

He walked to the left side, trying to keep his quiet, and saw the window right in front of him. Oddly enough, it was left slightly open. _She didn't close the window on such a cold night?_ He wondered, but didn't let himself waste much time overthinking the matter. _She must've forgotten. It happens to everyone_.

He sneakily went to the window and slowly pushed it open, and the window made a relatively loud noise.

Dipper was suddenly much more panicked. _Oh crap! Is she going to wake up to this?_ And began to back off from the house in case she came to check if anyone was out there. _Maybe he could hide behind a bush_. And he did.

He kept an eye on the window from behind the bush, but the redhead didn't seem to have heard anything. He sighed quietly and began to leave his 'hiding spot' to go inside the house as stealthily as possible.

The window wasn't very high up, so he could easily reach it from the side and going through it wasn't a hard job. His heart was racing and even though it was ice cold, he could feel himself sweating with panic, but other than that, he had his cool for a sleep deprived teen. He looked at the borders of the window, sized it up and down and took a deep breath. _He could do this._

He slowly put his right leg through the window and felt… _something_ … under his leg. It couldn't be the floor, it felt more like a table or the top of a drawer… but there was no such thing in Wendy's living room. _Was there?_ He didn't think about it too much and decided to get his other leg inside as well. But while he was getting his left leg inside, he accidentally hit something with it. Before he even realized what was going on, the thing had fallen over on the floor and apparently a few fragile things had also broken brutally, making a very loud noise. He heard a panicked scream from afar too… _Wendy's scream_.

He looked down on the floor, and with his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw… _broken glass_. Broken pieces of glass everywhere. Next to where he was sitting was a… sink, and a few pots and pans were also not far.

It didn't take him too long to realize what had happened; he had come in from the kitchen window instead of that of the living room.

 _OH NO._


	3. Chapter 3

Wendy had been lying in bed awake all night. She was sleep deprived, yet she couldn't fall asleep. _The worst feeling ever._

Her night wasn't going well, and the fact that she had nothing to do was making matters even worse. Just minutes ago, she was aimlessly wandering around the house and now she was in her bed, hoping a good night's sleep would bless her, all to no avail. She was thinking about different, pointless things at the same time without understanding anything. Her sheets felt uncomfortable, her pillow had turned rock hard and her eyes wouldn't close. The sound of a car passing suddenly came through, draining away every bit of sleepiness the redhead felt. After that, she was almost preparing to give up on sleeping that night.

But not long after, she found herself slowly dozing off. She smiled at the pleasant feeling, ready to fall asleep… when a screeching noise went off.

Her eyes snapped open at the high pitched sound and she got out of bed. She didn't know what it was, but she needed to check-

She'd left the kitchen window open.

"Dammit." She cursed and groaned, slowly going back to bed. That window had been annoying the life out of Wendy with how noisy it had gotten for a few months now. She needed to ask Soos to fix the issue with some oiling.

Now she knew for sure that she had a night of insomnia ahead of her. The redhead hadn't dealt with the issue before, only hearing from Dipper about how bad it was to be unable to sleep. Now she almost felt like she could relate to the teen.

Her mind drifted away to a certain nerd who was now a freshman in college. It had been two weeks since-

She suddenly heard more than a few dishes breaking at once. Frightened, she screamed and held her blanket tight to herself, like a five year old.

She frowned as soon as she realized how she had reacted _. Get yourself together, you idiot_. She thought to herself, mercilessly, and got out of bed to find the broom and hopefully get busy with cleaning the broken dishes. At least it would give her something to do.

But when she heard the sound of someone suffering in pain, she knew that things weren't as simple as she had thought; the dishes hadn't accidentally broken, someone had barged in and _broken them._

She looked to see what weapons she had ready in her room. There was a saw, which seemed to be _too much_ for scaring a burglar away, but it would work. She also saw one of her hatchets on her drawer. Perfect. She grabbed it and charged out of the room, into the kitchen.

As soon as the redhead stepped out of the room, the sounds of "Ow, ow!" changed to "Oh crap." She instantly spotted the person causing the trouble below the open window of the kitchen; a mid-tall, lanky man with a pair of glasses and messy hair, trying to get the pieces of glass and china out of his feet. Since he seemed distracted and was facing the window, Wendy took the chance and got the burglar in an intense headlock from behind.

"Wrong house, buddy." She said and showed the 'burglar' her axe. "You ain't takin' anything with you." The redhead turned on the closest light and looked at the nuisance, who was suffocating painfully. He was moving furiously to break free, which made his glasses fall off.

Wendy, startled at what she was seeing, loosened the grip on him and looked again just to be sure she was not making a mistake. But the shaggy brown hair, the hazel eyes, the slightly red nose, and last but not least, the birthmark on the supposedly stranger's forehead all seemed to be insisting that this was indeed who she thought he was.

"… _Dipper_?" She muttered, her jaw dropped, letting go of her poor victim. Dipper gasped for air and breathed heavily while the confused redhead looked at him in awe. She wanted to know how he was here, what he was doing in Oregon and why he'd broken into her house in the middle of the night, and a thousand other questions that lingered in her mind, but she was dead quiet. All she did was to watch her boyfriend inhale and exhale painfully and return to normal.

Dipper wasn't feeling much better, either. Whether it was how his throat was aching, or how horribly wrong his surprise visit had gone. All he had planned had been ruined, all that he had been looking forward to had come to him waking Wendy up, ruining her sleep and crashing down on her like a bomb. He didn't even want to imagine how Wendy felt about…

 _She was smiling._

In fact, she was wearing the world's most grateful grin.

Dipper instantly stopped coughing and looked the redhead in the eye. Despite what he'd thought, she didn't seem to be bothered at all. _But how could she?_ Dipper thought, but instantly brushed the thought off, cleared his throat and managed to make for the world's most awkward greeting. "H-h-hey… Wendy-"

"You dork." She said teasingly, and chuckled at the new arrival's embarrassment. She picked up the pair of glasses that had fallen off and handed them to him. All Dipper did was to scratch the back of his neck, starting to blush.

"uh… yeah… so…" And he managed to laugh out of his stress, with a bolt of laughter following from the lumberjill, draining the living room of any tension. The two let the awkwardness wash away and began their reunion in the best way imaginable, considering the situation.

Wendy then stopped laughing and simply watched the nineteen year old cackle, admiring how he had stayed the same through the years. It felt just like before. Just like back when the two of them hung out, with nothing to concern them, laughing over small things and simply put, just having fun. He was still the same old Dipper, even though he wore glasses now.

Dipper also stopped to catch his breath, when the two's gazes met. Dipper found Wendy staring at him, with a look that spoke louder than words. His eyes began to search Wendy's emerald green ones while hers were locked into his. The two slowly leaned towards each other and their lips finally met for a second time. All those miles of distance that had been between them for two years now measures to nothing as they united together again and let their joy and happiness become one.

The two then let go and looked at each other with more gratitude than they could comprehend. Dipper was thankful for how his night had turned from terrible to terrific, and Wendy was grateful for her dork's thoughtfulness.

"So…" Dipper tried to break the silence. "It's definitely great seeing you."

"Totally dude!" She said, much more energized than she was minutes ago. "You have a _LOT_ to tell me." She said and sat down on her humble couch, and so did Dipper.

"Yeah, I sure do…" He mumbled and thought back on when he was in the mythology class. He couldn't believe that it was merely twelve hours ago when he hadn't even taken off from California yet. "I had this planned for quite awhile, actually."

Wendy chuckled, "Of course you had." And she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "The overthinker of the gang."

All the teen did was to laugh as his face went crimson red – he couldn't help it, could he?

"C'mon, I wanna hear the _entire_ story."

"Alright, alright." He took a breath and began with how he planned his surprise road trip, how no one knew anything about it – not even Mabel – and any other detail that he thought might be important.

Wendy was quite overwhelmed by what she was hearing, and how Dipper had thought it was actually a nice thought.

"So, wait, you actually thought that was a good idea?" The redhead asked, quite incredulous, but somewhat amused. "I wouldn't have seen that going anywhere."

"I don't know, really." He admitted. "I just thought… i… I don't know, maybe seeing you for once was something I wouldn't miss?" He smiled looked at Wendy for a response.

"You dork." She uttered adoringly, wearing a grin she hadn't been wearing for a long time. "That's why you weren't answering my calls, huh?"

"Your… calls?" Dipper raised an eyebrow. "I haven't been getting any."

"Dude, I've been calling you every Friday for two weeks straight."

"Oh, about that…" Dipper realized where this was going. "Well, on today's case, I was already on the road."

"And last week?" She asked with a playful smile.

"I… uh… well…" He stopped in his tracks to choose his words carefully. He had been at Bart's workshop that particular weekend to oversee the process of the axe being built, so he couldn't tell her that part. He needed to smooth over the details. But seeing this thinking process from Dipper made Wendy even more curious at what was going on. Her demanding stare was not helping.

"I was just… y'know…" He thought up his words quickly. "Hanging out with a friend! Yeah! Definitely just hanging out with a friend."

Wendy was still giving him the same playful look. Dipper slightly felt like he had messed something up again. "What?"

"A _friend,_ huh?" She said skeptically. "Sounds legit."

Dipper face palmed. "Oh boy."

"So, how old was she?"

" _WHAT_?" He almost screamed, getting a hearty laugh out of the redhead.

"Nevermind." With Dipper's reaction, she was sure there was nothing of the sort going on. "I was just messing with ya."

Dipper let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Wendy then changed the subject. "So, is this supposed to be a Valentine's date or what?"

"Well, yeah…" Dipper felt like there was something missing. He didn't know what it was, but he felt like he was forgetting a small detail that was important too…

"Of course! How could I be so stupid?" He snapped his fingers in realization, startling the redhead.

"uh… Dipper?"

He sprang up from the couch and rushed to the front door. "I'll be right back."

Wendy raised an eyebrow. She never knew what was going on in the Dork's head, but now she was dying to know why he was so rushing. Just a moment ago he was calmly sitting down and now he was out the door all of a sudden.

Of course, she found out when the teen showed back up with a backpack on his back… and a hatchet in his hand.

"Whoa, you're throwing axes now?" She chuckled at the thought of him using that axe at all. She doubted his noodle arms could take the pressure at all. However, her thoughts were brushed aside when he held the axe out to her.

"uh… this is…" He started to go red and words failed him once again, but Wendy instantly finished for him.

"…For _me_?" She slowly took the handy axe from Dipper and looked at it. The first thing that caught her eyes was of course, her own name carved on the handle. The weight of the hatchet was much more balanced than the ones she and her family managed to barely put together on their own, and the edge seemed much sharper than her now-dull axe. But still… Dipper making such an awesome axe on his own…?

"couldn't have a Valentine's without a gift, y'know…" Dipper muttered, waiting for a reaction from Wendy.

"...you made this yourself?" She asked, her eyes widened with disbelief.

Dipper was suddenly panicking _. Of course. Wendy never likes it when I just get her something from somewhere! How did I not remember that?_ His own inner voice was growing more and more unassuring. But still… he _tried_ to get Bart to teach him… _right_?

"Cause this thing is really good." Wendy's voice tore through his train of thoughts. He looked at her, both glad and surprised at what he was hearing.

"R-r-really?"

"Totally dude!" She said, wearing her mesmerizing smile again, which reassured Dipper that he was just fine. She went on, "Me and my dad would have never put something this good together. You should make more of these man!"

Aaand, Dipper's shameful feeling came right back. The change of his expression was so obvious that the lumberjill noticed right away. She called his name and gave him a questioning look.

"I…" Words escaped him once again. He didn't know what she would do if she found out that he hadn't made it himself. It would be _worthless_ to her. She would treat it just like any other axe, not like a special gift that had made her extraordinarily happy. "…Nevermind."

"Come on. Don't do that again." She pat his back, flashing him a calming grin nobody else was capable of making. The teen took a deep breath and decided to go for it.

"I… actually didn't make it myself." The words escaped him mouth instantly. He was expecting the worst. Wendy was going to think he'd grabbed it from somewhere in the last minute and now was giving it to her as a present. "sorr-"

"Of course you didn't." Wendy smiled. Despite what Dipper had thought would happen, she didn't seem the slightest bit annoyed. _Damn it, Dipper. Always overthinking things for no reason_. He thought to himself, but Wendy went on.

"I know what it's like in college, especially with you being you. You don't even have time to scratch your head, do you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"…Not really."

"Then of course you wouldn't have time to make an axe on your own. You know it's harder than it looks, right?"

Dipper nodded.

"But it doesn't even matter, 'cause this axe is better than any I've had before." Wendy said, swinging the hatchet. She wasn't exaggerating. The redhead was already thinking about throwing her last axe away, but this hatchet meant more than just another hatchet to her. She turned to the teen and softened, "Thanks, Dip."

Dipper smiled with gratitude and held her hand close. "I'm glad you like it. Really, really glad that you like it."

"Of course I do." She said, still softly. "Best present I've gotten ever."

"Really?" The teen's eyes widened. His heart started to race.

"Yup. I'll just put it in my room. Gimme a sec." She said and went to her room.

"Alright." And he looked around to the house. It was just like he had seen it two years ago. Two couches, a small, wooden table, a pretty old TV that was on the ground – she didn't have a table for it – and her desk somewhere in the corner of the living room, with an open book sitting on it. The living room had the same pale wallpapers he'd helped put up. The windows had mismatched curtains, and the clock above the TV was still fifteen minutes behind. It felt as if he had gone back in time, to the last summer he spent in the sleepy town. He made a note to himself to visit Gravity Falls this summer _no matter what._

"Alright, I'm back." Wendy announced and came back from the room, holding… _something_. "The new axe found a nice spot on the wall, and check out what I found!" She held the thing up to show Dipper and he adjusted his glasses to see it. It was his old Pine Tree Hat.

" _No. Way._ " He said incredulously. "You've been keeping that?"

"What, you haven't been keeping _my hat?_ " She gave him a look. "And I thought _you_ were the one to crush on _me._ "

"Of course I have! I just…" He stopped to think where he'd last put it, but came up with nothing. "…I don't know where it is."

"Funny thing; I didn't either." Wendy explained, "Just wanted to put the older axe in the closet and when I put it there, this thing just _fell off_." She tapped the hat. "Pretty weird, right?"

Dipper smiled at seeing the hat he used to love dearly, and the fact that despite how he'd thought, she had kept the cap for so long, and so clean – Wendy's hat was holding up to many stitches, thanks to Mabel.

"Anyway, I'm _really_ sleepy right now. You?"

"Sleepy?" Dipper scoffed. "I've been driving for ten hours straight." He looked at his watch. It was four o' clock in the morning, and he had been driving since six o' clock. "I guess I'll just… take the couch then?"

"The couch?" Wendy said. "Why not just take my bed?"

Dipper didn't expect that generosity. He knew the couch would be hellishly uncomfortable, but he preferred to take it himself than have Wendy sleep there. "But then you'll take the couch-"

"No, you dork!" She said, laughing. Dipper raised an eyebrow. "We'll _both_ take the bed."

* * *

"Whoa, man! It's snowed last night!"

The excited voice of the redhead tore through the sleeping teen's dreams and he opened his tired eyes. He got up, stretched his arms, then realized he wasn't in his own home. He squinted to see his surroundings better, but seeing a certain redhead in a red flannel gown was enough for him to remember everything. _Yeah, I came up to Gravity Falls last night._ Wendy then turned to see him who had woken up. "Oh, you're up, Dipper!" And she waved at him.

"Hey, Wendy." He rubbed his eyes.

"Come on! You've _got_ to see this." She pointed at the window. Dipper then looked around to find his glasses, so that he didn't need to squint to see everything. Wendy, of course, knew right away what he needed and gave him his glasses.

Dipper took them and put them on, then looked at Wendy, who was wearing a toothy smirk. "You look like a nerd with glasses, you know that?"

"As if I didn't already." Dipper joked, getting Wendy to laugh. He smiled and got out of Wendy's bed… _Wendy's bed?_

 _Oh, yeah, we slept here last night… WE?_

"Hey! You with me? Dipper?" Wendy tapped the teen's forehead as soon as he started overthinking.

"Wha… Me? Yeah." He nodded. "Just needed a moment for all this to sink in." And he went to the window to see what Wendy was talking about.

"Oh, that morning confusion thing, huh?"

"WHOA!" Dipper exclaimed at the sight of the thick snow on the ground. "That's a _lot_ of snow!" He then grinned as well. He was as excited as his twelve year old self would be when it snowed over Christmas – California wasn't exactly famous for its white Christmases. Oregon, on the other hand… "You have no idea how long it's been since I've seen any snow."

Wendy came right to his side to look out the window as well. "Crazy how it snowed _so much_ overnight, huh?" She said and the two shared a look, then went back to seeing the picturesque sight in front of them. A flat area of snow in front of them which continued until it reached the borders of the Gravity Falls Evergreen forest. The trees were covered in a thick layer of white, which occasionally dropped on the snowy ground. The two gently held hands as their eyes sought the farthest ends of the forest, all covered in a shining white. The cloudy sky also somehow added to the beauty of the picture, A very beautiful picture which they couldn't get enough of.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Dipper uttered quietly.

"More like cheesy," Wendy said mischievously, then looked at the teen once again. "but you know what? I'm on with it."

The two's gazes met once again and the two slowly leaned towards each other again, having yet another kiss after their two years of being apart. Their being together reflected warmth in the otherwise cold room and a soft love in an otherwise hard environment. The two then let go and looked at each other once again, then looking out the window together, with Dipper's head on Wendy's shoulder – oddly enough.

Wendy then had an idea. An idea that seemed brilliant to her. A way the two could spend their day without getting bored indoors. She instantly left the window, going to her closet. This almost made Dipper fall down, since he was relying on Wendy for balance. He yelled, frightened, then barely retained his balance.

"Remind me not to do that again, Wendy." He said to the redhead and noted to himself that it was Wendy's job to put her head on his shoulder and not the other way around.

Wendy laughed. "Yup. On it." And she put a few pieces of clothing on her bed. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"What are you even doing?"

Wendy grabbed her scarf from the closet too, then began to explain. "Dude, just look out the window."

"Well Yeah, I saw. It's beautiful and all, so what?" He said, still confused.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not staying inside when there's _that_ waiting for me out there." She said and pointed to the clothes she'd gotten out of the closet.

"Oh, right. So, you're changing to go outside."

"Not just me, _you're_ coming, too." She said and pointed at him. "Now get out while I change, or I'll kick your shaved butt."

"Hey!" Dipper was obviously offended. "What gives?"

"As if I don't know. Now just wait up a sec." She kept her laughter in and managed to give him a serious look.

"Alright, alright, sheesh." And he walked to the door, leaving the room.

 _Damn it, how did she know?_ Dipper thought as soon as he left the room, when he heard Wendy giggling, which soon turned to the loudest laughter Dipper thought was possible. He groaned. "Alright, alright, very funny." He said bitterly. "But how did you know?"

Wendy's laughter not only didn't stop, but went even higher pitched. Dipper felt only more embarrassed. Now he had admitted to it unwantedly. She wouldn't stop making fun of him anytime soon.

"I know you well enough to know that already." She said cleverly and continued to laugh.

"Hey! No you didn't!"

"I did, dude." She said only half-honest. "I was, like, ninety nine percent sure of it."

"Alright, alright, whatever. Can we please not talk about it?"

"Okay, I won't mention your shaved butt aga-"

"WENDY!" He practically screamed. Wendy only laughed more, but at least didn't talk about the matter anymore. "Chill out, dude, I was just joking around."

Dipper was in no mood to hear it. " 'Just joking' my ass."

Wendy giggled mischievously. Dipper face-palmed. He should have _not_ mentioned the A-word. "Oh, yeah? Your _Shaved-"_

"Wendy, no."

"You got it." And she exploded with laughter again. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Hey, it's funny." Wendy said innocently. "Admit it." and the sound of something being zipped up could be heard.

"I almost regret coming up here now."

And at that moment, the door was _slammed_ open. Wendy came through, now wearing her trademark green flannel shirt, a huge and warm leather jacket and a fire red scarf, which was just the color of her hair. And to top it all off, a pine tree cap sitting on top of her head.

"That hat looks out of place." Dipper said, grinning.

"As if it didn't when _you_ wore it." She said and gave him an affectionate punch in the shoulder. The two shared another laugh.

"So, whatcha waiting for?" Wendy said and nodded towards the door.

"Oh, right." Dipper buttoned up his warm, brownish jacket. Wendy held her hand out, and Dipper accepted more than willingly. The two then walked towards the door together and opened the door, embracing the cold breeze that came through and the sight of the snowy road in front of the house, with Dipper's car sitting under a pile of snow, which he could look forward to cleaning later. But not now. Not when Wendy was right beside him, waiting for him to start going down the front stairs. He nodded to the redhead and the two descended to the ground gracefully, going on their first walk together in two years.

"So, where should we go?"

"Hmmm... I'd say the diner."

Dipper chuckled. "Breakfast, huh? How does pancakes sound?"

"Awesome! Let's get going!"

"Uh… which way was the town again?"

Wendy giggled. "You seriously don't remember?"

"Hey! It's been two years!"

"Then let me show you."

And the two walked away from building 819, which now sat in silence, watching the couple slip away into the forest…

 **THE END**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Here you are! The last of three parts for this story!**

 **I actually came up with this idea on Valentine's Day (Yes, I know it's ages ago. No, it didn't go well for me) And told a certain friend, and his reaction was so encouraging that I decided to write it right then, but i never got to finishing it until just few days ago. So shoutout to you dude! You made me determined to get this fanfic done :)**

 **Anyways, I wanted to thank all you guys who reviewed (or will review for this chapter) too! You guys' opinions were also very kind and uplifting :)**

 **Welp, guess I should go back to my other stories that have been on hiatus for now.**

 **-H80NP**


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